Lastminute back in the market

LASTMINUTE.COM braved the equity market today for the first time since its hyped flotation of two years ago, selling new shares at a fifth of the price they were snapped up for then. The £8m placing, handled by Cazenove, is to bankroll the acquisition of a rival online travel agent for up to £15m.

Lastminute is buying Destination Holdings, best known for its 'travel4less' and 'flights4less' websites. The placing price of 83p compares with the 380p that thousands of small investors paid when lastminute.com came to the stock market amid the near-hysteria of the dotcom bubble of 2000. But the shares are more than four times an all-time low of 18 3/4p plumbed nine months ago.

Founder and managing director Martha Lane Fox said: 'This shows a real change in sentiment towards the stock. Now we're seeing real institutional interest. We're actually the fastest growing small-cap UK stock this year.'

Destination founder Raj Kumar and his family will get £8m cash, £4m in newly-issued lastminute shares and a possible earnout of up to £3m.